


Upgrades

by jessllama



Category: Big Hero 6 (2014)
Genre: Coming to terms with your past, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Loss of Limbs, Robotics, Teacher-Student Relationship, Trans Female Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-31
Updated: 2015-02-09
Packaged: 2018-03-09 20:09:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3262778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jessllama/pseuds/jessllama
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tadashi would have to admit, taking additional classes to complete Baymax was one of his better ideas. But he didn't think taking a visiting professor's class would affect him. He also didn't expect to get attached to her so quickly. Pre-Big Hero 6. TadashixOC, a transgender character (male-to-female).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Professor Lore

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!   
> This is actually one if the first fics I've done in a long time. After seeing the film a few times, it dawned on me that one of my characters from another story would fit well in the BH6 universe. As I'm reposting this from another site, chapters will be posted often until it's caught up with the original.  
> I hope you all enjoy.

Exams were without a doubt the worst thing about university.

On top of the SFIT professors hounding for their students to keep up their personal projects, they expected them to do group robotics assignments', study for exams, write term papers and go to class. It was no wonder by this point that a majority of the students lived in their labs.

Tadashi was on his third day of non-stop school work and he was looking like a mess. Unshaven face, bed head and a slight case of B.O was the least of his problems. He typed furiously away at his keyboard, determined to have the last of his papers done before the stroke of 7. As the words on the screen became blurry, he stopped and leaned back, rubbing his eyes. He had been at this for what seemed like hours, he just wanted it to be over. Turning his attention away from the computer, he looked at the large robotic blue prints he had pinned to the wall facing him. He had started a skeleton and coding, but most of it lay in pieces on the ground. He knew what he wanted to make the moment he joined SFIT, but with school getting in the way, it was getting harder and harder to work on his project.

"Don't you worry, buddy. I'll get back to you as soon as I'm done," He said with a small smile, cracking his knuckles. "Just a few more paragraphs and the conclusion… and the bibliography…" He trailed off as he went over his work. It was going to be another long, long day.

With what seemed like hours that passed by, Tadashi let out a cry of victory as he hit the send button on the laptop. After proofreading his paper three times, he finally had the perfect thesis and polished off, as well as editing the title to not say "Last fucking paper of my life yaaaaaaaaaaas" to something a little more professional. He was proud of himself, he pretty much finished in record time. At least that's what he thought until he actually looked at the clock.

"You're kidding me. It's nine o'clock?!" He groaned, covering his face with his hands. Peeking through his fingers to his phone, he saw the texts from his friends. It had been close to four days since he had seen them in person, their texts telling him to leave to lab and go home for the night. Wasabi even texted him a list of health food stores by the university so he could eat.

Shutting down his laptop, Tadashi decided to take his friend's advice. Instant ramen could only fill a man for so long before he's ready to eat his own shirt. Grabbing his bag from off the floor, he walked over to his unfinished robot and placed a hand on its head. "I'll come back in the morning. See you then, buddy," He said, patting it before turning to the door. Reaching put for the handle, the door was pulled open by a familiar face.

"Ah, Professor Callaghan," Tadashi said in surprise, standing up straight. "I was just heading out."

"Off to the medical lecture you asked me to sign you up for?" The professor inquired, a knowing grin on his face as Tadashi dead panned. "It's in hall C, room 812." He chuckled as he watched the older Hamada ran feverishly out of the labs to the other half of the campus.

Tadashi stumbled up the step to the lecture hall and turned the corner so quick he went right into the wall. Recovering in record time, he dashed down the hallway, mentally reading the numbers until he came to the right one. Shoving the doors open, he dragged himself to a nearby lecture table and collapsed, crumpled up like a paper ball on the floor. He understood why Fred liked lying down after he was out of his mascot suit, the tiles where cool and inviting. He almost didn't even care that he could hear the people behind him snickering; he just wanted to catch his breath… Maybe close his eyes for a moment… It would be fine, he'd be up and ready to go in no time.

But when it rains, it pours. He didn't even get even get five minutes before a loud slap on the table above woke him from his delirium. Tadashi awoke with a start, jumping up and narrowly missing whacking his head on the tabletop. He quickly sat down in the seat next to him, staring at who or what awoke him.

Standing by the table next to his was a tall Native American woman in a lab coat, her right arm in a sling. She wore dark blue skinny jeans and what looked like a blac, sleeveless turtleneck under her coat, while her long hime styled hair was lazily thrown into a bun.

On the table was a large metal case, about the size of a guitar. He safely assumed that was what woke him up. Digging into his own bag, he pulled out his laptop as the woman stood in front of the class. She smiled before speaking.

"Good evening, I'm Alice Lore," She began, looking around the class slowly as if to meet everyone's eye. "As you may know, I've been brought here for the next few months to continue and expand on my research in robotics. Some of you may know me from my medical papers published on artificial intelligence," She continued, idly walking around the classroom.

Tadashi recognized the name. His coding for his robot required for it to think on its own and during his own research, he had read over her reports. She expanded on the idea of robots working in the medical field and a possibility for an advanced AI would be used for grieving parents. He watched as she walked over to his table and opened the large case, pulling a set of colored balls out. What in the world was this going to be used for?

"Since my publishing, I've moved into a different field. Can I get a volunteer to give me a hand?" She asked, stepping back from the tabletop. The class was almost silent, a slight murmur as students leaned over to their friends to whisper. Alice stood patiently and waited for a moment. A look of annoyance crossed her face and she began to speak before Tadashi held up his hand.

"See? It wasn't that hard," She said pointedly to the rest of the class as Tadashi got up and stood beside her. She was very tall, a mere centimeter off Tadashi's 6'0. "Thank you, sleeping beauty," She said with a chuckle, walking over to her desk. Tadashi stumbled over himself, following after her.

"I am so, so sorry. I didn't mean to…" He started, before being promptly cut off. "It's alright, Mr…?" She looked at him skeptically, waiting for a reply.

"Hamada. Tadashi Hamada," He replied, adjusting his shirt. This was a first; he expected to be reamed out… or maybe she was waiting for his guard to be down before she laid it on him. "I want you to stand over there and throw those balls at me," She stated assertively, turning him around and shoving him back towards the balls. He stared at her, confused by what was going on as he walked over and picked them up.

"Alright, Hamada. Throw them," She said with a grin. Tadashi glanced up at the others behind them, all of them watching him worriedly. "Today, Hamada." He took a breath, tossing them to her.

With a flick of her wrist, she ripped off her sling and the class collective gasped. Her entire right arm, all the way up past the shoulder blade was a full robotic prosthetic and to their amazement, her robotic hand caught the balls. Tadashi almost swore as Alice chuckled loudly and began to juggle them, clearly having fun. Everyone got out of their seats and walked over to where Tadashi stood, trying to get a better look as she walked around.

"You can all guess what I went into," She smiled, tossing the balls to a nearby student. "So… who wants to learn just how this piece works?" A loud cheer erupted from the class as she motioned for them to come closer.

"Hamada, give me a hand," She said, having him stand beside her. "Hold out your hands for a second." Doing as he was told, she held her arm out above him. Alice reached behind her shoulder blade and after a set of beeps and clicks, the arm dropped off into his hands. He had to readjust himself due to the weight, examining the arm as quick as he could.

"As you can see here, the limb connects to me via this port," She explained, showing them the metal connection line incased in her shoulder. "These wires and valves connect to my nerve ends, which clearly you can't see at the moment, and it relays commands sent by the brain to this little piece here," She continued, pointing out a section of the inner arm. As Alice continued her lecture and presented the makings and workings of the arm, Tadashi took mental notes on everything he could remember, including how the procedure was exceedingly painful to undergo.

"Now as this class is just a trial-run, I don't expect any of you to create one of these. I do expect to see you all showing me the best coding and machinery handling the school has to offer," She replied, taking back her arm. With a bit of difficulty, she reattached the arm with a sickening crack and started a few basic hand movements to insure it all worked. The students began gossiping amongst themselves as she did a few more arm stretches.

"If you don't want us to make them, then what is this class for? It's only a month long, how to you expect us to learn anything?" A male student chirped in.

"You'll be repairing and coding limbs for our future patients," Alice replied, tapping a triangle piece on her wrist. It flipped around and shone a bright light before it settled and projected a hologram of seven different people, all missing one or two limbs.

"These people here have completed all the trails and have their correspondence pieces attached to them already. What you are going to be doing to assisting me in completing and working out the kinks of these new limbs." As the class began talking excitedly, Tadashi could only think of one thing.

This would help a lot of people and if he used what he learned to his advantage, Baymax would be even more equipped to be the greatest nursing robot.


	2. Testing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been a few weeks since Tadashi started Professor Lore's class. He's showing results and ... A slight crush?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the kudos! You guys are super sweet!   
> I'm hoping to put photos at the end of chapters, if I can figure it out. Just so I can illustrate what Alice looks like, as well as some parts I'd like expand on.

Tadashi had been right about one thing. They did help a lot of people, but even with such great results, it didn't stop people from dropping the class.

It had been two weeks a since the initial lecture and close to half of the class dropped out or never came back. It was almost understandable, with the last of exams and projects coming to an end. Tadashi, thankfully, had finished everything in advance so he could spend more time chasing after his brother and work on Baymax.

This also gave Professor Lore time to do one-on-one training with the remaining students. After their first lecture, she had brought in seven limbs for repair and assigned one to every group of three. The two Tadashi was working with had both dropped the class within a day of each other, both claiming the repair work to be out of their knowledge. He didn't mind that they had left as now he could bring the artificial hand to his lab to work on between breaks. He had repaired most of it but when it came to wiring it to its port, it would short out.

"Professor Callaghan showed me your last few projects and marks," Alice explained to him when she gave him the limb. "This piece has some of the most complex wiring and malfunctioned in the testing stage. I'd assume you'd want a challenge." It was challenging, but nothing he couldn't handle.

He strolled into the lab she had booked for them, looking around the room. There were two other sets of students there working with Alice at her own table working on a leg. Tadashi set himself up at a table close to the others, peeking at their work. One group had a foot that seemed to be in working order and the other hand an arm, like Alice's. Taking out his own, he began hooking it up to it's port and began testing it. The port was connected to his laptop and through a program, he could key in what he wanted the hand to do. If the port was connected and working properly with the hand, it would relay the message and the hand would do the action.

"Alright, this should do it," He said to himself as he typed in the command for 'wave'. Clicking the enter button, a short second later the hand waved at him. He did the same command another two times and moved on. "How about… 'thumbs up'?" With a whir and a click, the hand gave him an encouraging thumb up. He continued testing as Alice got up from her seat and walked around the room.

"Has there been any improvement, Hamada?" She asked inspecting the hand as it started doing finger exercises. "Oh, very good! It's working much better. Did you find the problem?"

"There was some faulty wiring and some serious coding issues," He answered, pointing her over to his laptop. "I went into the database you gave us and there was a bit of a bug in this one's core, plus a huge chunk of the code was… well, it was trash." He said hesitantly, watching her for a change of expression. When nothing changed, he continued. "The main problem with the port and hand was the wiring. I replaced them and redid a lot of the interior. This test should be the deal breaker," He said as he pulled a can of soda from his bag.

"You're checking the grabbing and squeezing attributes?" She asked, watching him place the can in the hand. "That better not be full, these haven't been coated in water sealant yet." He nodded in response and turned to his laptop, typing in the 'grab' command. He glanced over at the brunette before hitting the enter button.

The hand grabbed the can, earning a little fist pump from Tadashi. He entered the command again, the hand complying again. Now came for the final test. If the hand to squeeze the can successfully, he'd have completed the limb way ahead of schedule. Typing in the final command, his finger hovered above the key. He would be done for the semester with this and have time to work on his project, but that meant he wouldn't need to come back to class. He shook his head, no time for that. Tapping the key gently, he waited in anticipation at the hand.

Whiiiiiiir… CLICK. The hand crushed the can in one movement. He cheered for himself, grinning from ear to ear. Alice smiled with pride at him, patting his shoulder. "I'm impressed, Hamada. I think Kairi is going to be very satisfied with her new hand. …But maybe tone down the squeeze. She's got a pair of twins," She said with a chuckle. The praise had brought the other students from their limbs over to his table, inspecting the now working hand.

"Interesting…" One of the male students muttered as he went through the coding on Tadashi's laptop. "How long did it take for this to process and load to the database? The render must've taken at least a few hours. "

"You used animation software to get the movements down, right?" Another student inquired, peeking onto his laptop. Alice grinned, looking at Tadashi. "I think you'll have to stay a little while longer, Hamada. You've made quite the impression. I'm bringing this to the student hospital across campus for our patient, I'm sure she'll want to meet the student the fixed her hand."

"Yes, of course!" He replied with vigor, smiling brightly. This was awesome. He was done and he was going to be seeing his work go to good use. A female student burst his bubble a little too quickly, though.

"Why can't we come?" She demanded, glaring pointedly at Tadashi. "We're pretty much done ours, why does he get to go meet his patient?"

"It is? Well, then… Show me what you've done," Alice replied, waltzing over to the student's table and stared at the arm. "I'm on the edge of my seat."

The student seemed flustered and elbowed her work mate as they hurried over to the limb and their laptops. Hurriedly, they began typing and connecting it to its port. Tadashi noticed Alice's eyebrow twitch was they plugged the port into a USB slot and began pulling up the data base. It wasn't until they placed a stress ball in its hand did he see she was getting worried. "Okay! Watch this! 'Grab and Bend'," The girl said, whacking the enter key. The hand grabbed the stress ball, squeezing it hard as the arm bent as though it was lifting a weight.

Suddenly, the ball burst with a loud pop, all the students including Tadashi ducking for cover, and sent the fine powder it was filled with flying across the room. The arm seized for a couple of minutes, setting off a spark and flopped down lifelessly. Tadashi peeked out from under a table to see the damage. The powder hadn't gone very far, but the arm and table was completely covered in white. He had to cover his mouth to avoid chuckling out loud at what he saw next.

Alice stood in front of the table with her arms crossed, covered from head to waist in the white powder. She coughed, a puff of white coming off her lips as she stared at the powder covered student standing behind the table, looking down to avoid her eye. She reached over and picked up the now dusty arm, checking it for any extensive damage.

"Well… I hate to break it to you, but you've got to clean this thoroughly before you work on it anymore. That spark was concerning," She said, placing the arm on a clean table. The students looked at her, astonished they weren't getting reamed out. "There are micro cleaners in one of the labs, use those and see if on the cameras…" She continued as she showed them how to fix their mess. As the rest of the students stood, they watched as the professor calmed down the two and explained how to fix their problem and encouraged them to make more mistakes.

"You two have gotten pretty far though," She said with a grin. "Maybe this was a good thing it burst; now you can go inside and see what made it malfunction. Take a break and come back when you're feeling up to it, okay?

The set nodded before they started leaving the classroom to change clothes, both of them talking about how they should disassemble the limb without damaging it. Before they left, Alice turned to the rest of the class. "I'll be leaving for the next hour and a half, I want to deliver the finished prosthetic," She informed everyone, attempting to dust herself off. "Feel free to stay and work or you may go home if you please. I have to lab booked until midnight tonight."

"Did you still want me to come?" Tadashi asked her as the students disbursed, some going back to their work while others went to grab snacks.

"Yes, please. Get everything packed up, I'll meet you out front of the school in about a half hour."  
-

Tadashi stood outside by the steps, looking out at the massive university buildings surrounding him. The mix of both oriental and western architecture gave the grounds a unique and calming feeling. He looked over to his lab and grinned a little. He could see Wasabi and Gogo from the window getting into a heated conversation. The night before at the Lucky Cat café, they were auguring over what would be the better car for Wasabi to get. Gogo insisted on something fast and durable, while Wasabi held his ground on safety and cargo space. He chuckled at the memory.

"Is something funny?" He turned around to be greeted by Alice, now completely spotless, in a tight red pencil skirt and a black sleeves turtle neck. She flipped her long hime styled hair and posed dramatically. "Notice anything… different~?" She asked with a coy smile. Tadashi looked intently at her for a moment, tapping his chin. Something did look different, but what? He circled around her slowly and stared at her back for a moment before he knew exactly what it was.

"Your arm! It's… Is that a hologram?" He asked, grabbing her right arm, which looked and felt like a real arm. He couldn't believe it as he poked and prodded it. More than once did she use one of her holograms, which she refused to let anyone use, to joke around with. "No, this is silicone... How is this attached to the limb?"

"My arm has a lot more upgrades then the others we're making for patients," Alice replied as Tadashi continued his examination of it. "My arm has been completely sealed for water so I added a small part in the shoulder area that covers the limb in a silicone covering. Hold on, I'll show you," She said, lifting her arm out of his hands. She pressed a section on her collarbone and almost instantly, the silicone turned to foam and started to be absorbed into the metal of the limb.

"It's a chemical reaction in the base of the silicon and the fusion material I have in this prosthetic," She smiled, pressing the newly revealed button on her collarbone to start it again. "This one is different than the one I normally wear in the lab, it scares less people." She chuckled as her arm was once again covered in the silicon.

"I take it you have more than one version?" He asked with a grin as she began to walk down the steps.

"I have four different arms. This one, the regular one you've seen in class, one with the hologram projector and one for Halloween," She told him as they walked side by side.

"A Halloween one?" He quoted with a laugh.

"It's an accurate model of the all the bones from the tip of fingers to the ball-joint of my shoulder," She smirked, wiggling her hand at him "It's a hit a parties." Tadashi snickered at the thought.

"You should wear it the nest time my brother comes in, he'll get a kick out of it," He agreed as they both chuckled. They walked across one of the oriental garden bridges to the other side of campus towards a steep set of stairs. As they walked, the wind blew an updraft past them, the faint scent of cherry blossoms in the air as well as few petals. Alice began the descend, staying a few steps in front of Tadashi.

"How old is your brother?" She asked, looking back at him.

"He's fourteen. The kid is a genius," He said with pride. "Graduated high school at the top of his class last year with straight As and a perfect GPA."

"So when does he start here?" She inquired again, stopping for a moment for him to catch up to her.

"I want him to come here as soon as possible, but he seems to think bot-fighting is worth more of his time," He sighed, sitting down on one of the steps. The thought of him getting arrested took the energy out of him. They had escaped being arrested last weekend and Hiro promised to keep it on the down low for the next little while, but that didn't stop him from worrying.

"I'm sure you'll convince him one day. What's your age difference?"

"What's with all the questions?" He demanded jokingly. Alice looked at him with a smile and a raised eyebrow.

"I want to know more about my student. You know a lot about me, there's no way you wouldn't have taken my class if you didn't," She replied, hands on her hips. She had a point, but he knew the basics.

"You have a teaching degree in technology and served in a army for five years as a doctor in the field, then you came back and started work in the medical field," He listed, watching her. "… How did you lose your arm?"

Alice was silent for once. He had heard rumors about how she may have lost it, shark bit it off, cut it off to test the limbs, wasn't born with one… but he wanted to know. She sighed, walking over to him and sat down beside him.

"You know, sometimes I can feel it…" She said, looking off into the scenery in front of them. "When my arm is off, I mean. It's like it right there and I can almost reach out and touch it. …But then the feelings gone. Then I remember the pain of losing it… It's not the pain that hurts me the most, it's the memory."

Tadashi gazed at her as she spoke, before turning his gaze to the now setting sun. He understood that feeling. His parents passed away so soon and the thought of their death wasn't what caused him sadness, it was the happiness they left behind in memories. The birthdays they shared together, holding Hiro for the first time, going on a family trip… Those were the ones that hurt him the most. Aunt Cass did a good job of raising the boys and he loved her like a mother, but it never felt the same.

"… I don't like the dwell on what happened. But I still treasure the memories I have," She said softly. "You have to accept those mistakes and keep moving forward, like your classmates."

"… I think I understand what you mean," He replied after a moment of silence. Alice wrapped an arm around, patting his back. "Is it safe to guess you won't tell me what happened?"

"If you want a story to tell your friends, say I was an Olympic skater and I lost it in a routine gone wrong."

"… Is that what happened?" He asked, snickering.

"No, you nerd. Come on, we have a delivery to make. You're going to change someone's life today."


	3. Attachment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for Tadashi to meet his patient. Attaching the limb may go well, but he didn't expect to get attached to Alice as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the Kudos! I know the story has been a bit slow but I promise, it'll pick up! Alice and Tadashi are about to get close and Hiro makes an appearance in this chapter as well.

When they arrived at the hospital, they were greeted by nurses and doctors alike. Most of the nursing staff was on a first name bases with Tadashi and they fawned and wanted to catch up with him. After they managed to escape towards to elevator hall, Alice grinned at Tadashi.

"So… Did you work as an intern here?" Alice asked as the nurses left. "Seems like you're a hit with the ladies."

"No, I've been here a few times with my baby brother," He explained as they walked to the elevator. "He's got a slight allergy to peanuts, but it doesn't stop him from eating candies with them in it."

"He sounds like a handful. A bot fighting, robotics genius with a sweet tooth? No wonder you wanted to make a nursing bot," Alice laughed in reply as they stepped on the elevator. Clicking the button for the third floor, Tadashi asked her about siblings. Maybe he would learn a little more a little more then what was on her wikia page.

"None what so ever. I wanted to be a big sister, but my parents didn't want another," She replied, sounding a little annoyed at the mention of her parents. As the elevator came to a stop, the doors opened and even more nurses and doctors came to greet them, but this time, they fawned over the both of them.

"Ms. Lore! I need to speak with you about an issue we're having with Mr. Lundi..." An elderly doctor said, ushering her towards a room down the hall. As the nurses fawned over Tadashi and insisted on him coming to visit them more with his cute brother, he politely excused himself and followed after his professor. Alice stopped him before he could enter, turning him around to face the door next to them.

"Why don't you introduce yourself to your patient?" She suggested with a smile."I'll be in soon."

He smiled in reply and went to the door, knocking on it. When he heard a muffled "Come in", he was promptly latched on again by a pair of twin girls who opened the door for him.

"Mama, look! The nurse did bring us a friend!" The girls giggled as they pulled him over to their mother, who was sitting in a hospital bed. Tadashi laughed at the two as he gently pulled his hands free. "I'll play with you both in a minute. My name is Tadashi Hamada," he introduced himself to the mother. He had read her patient file when Alice had assigned the limbs to them. She had lost her left hand in a car accident two years ago and was coming back to the hospital on a weekly bases for rehab. She held up her left hand to shake his, before retracting it quickly and held out her right.

"Sorry, I'm still getting used to only have the one," She laughed, shaking his hand. "I'm Kairi and these are my girls, Mimi and Momo."

"I'm Mimi!" "I'm Momo!" The two piped in, climbing onto their mothers' bed. Tadashi shook their hands as well, smiling at the three. "I brought you a gift," he said as he opened his bag and pulled out the new limb, gasps emerging from all three. The girls leaned in closer to see the hand, oohing and awing. Kairi even joined in, inspecting the limb.

" I don't believe it, it's finished?" She asked Tadashi, as he set it down on the table beside them. "It's functional?" He nodded in reply, before they were started by yelling in the hall. Tadashi moved towards the door before Kairi spoke. "It's Mr. Lundi, he's in a foul mood again…"

"He's mean to everyone!" Mimi said, pouting. "He's really mean to Dr. Lore!" Momo added on, pouting like her sister. As a stream of colorful language was heard in the hall, Tadashi shut the door before walking back to the three. Sitting down in the chair by the bed, Kairi began telling him about the man next door.

"He has brain damage," She explained as she braided Mimi's hair. "He was involved in a bombing in a local college a few years ago. He thinks it's still the same day as the incident and… well, he's got some words about it." He wondered why the bombing occurred, but his thought process was cut off by the door opening. Alice walked inside with a sad smile on her face before she smiled happily at Kairi and her girls.

"I'm sorry about that. He's got more of a temper than normal," She laughed off, walking over to the bed. "I'm sorry girls, but could you sit over there for a few minutes? I'm going to attach your mom's hand, okay?"

The girls nodded in unison and hopped off the bed, sitting like they were asked and continued to braid each other's hair. With that, Tadashi got up from his seat and handed Alice the port and hand. The two helped Kairi sit up before Alice prepped her for the next part.

"Placing the hand is going to be the easier part, but I need you to be brave for your girls, okay?" She said softly, holding up the port. "This is going to hurt a lot when it's attached, but it'll fade soon. … Do you want me to take your girls outside?"

Kairi shook her head, putting on a strong face. Alice began attaching the port to the stub of her arm, pushing it in. However, it was putting up resistance. The stub of her hand had a connecting area, like to a usb slot. It was just barely inserted and Alice was having trouble pushing in all the way in. Tadashi moved himself behind her, placing his hands over hers. She didn't even finch as he began applied pressure to the port. With a sudden loud CLICK, Kairi curled up in pain, clutching the bed sheets. Within a couple of minutes, she relaxed and unfurled, faced covered in sweat.

"Are you ready for the last part?" Alice asked, wiping the sweat off Kairi's face. "Do you need more time to rest?"

"No, I can do this," Kairi insisted, looking at both Tadashi and Alice. The two looked at each other and nodded, attaching the hand with little resistance. Alice stepped back as Tadashi finished attaching the hand. "That should do it. Get it a shot," He said with a small smile. Kairi lifted her arm and took a breath. She hesitated, looking helplessly to them. Mimi and Momo came over to their mother, now watching her as well.

"You can do it, mama… We know you can," Momo said, reaching out to hold her mother's free hand. "Mimi knows you can do it too!" Mimi added, both of them speaking softly. Kairi looked as though she was going to cry and strokes her girls hair with her new hand. She gasped, pulling it back. She wiggled her fingers and laughed.

"It works! It actually works!" She cried out happily, picking out her girls and hugged them tight. Tadashi felt a swell of pride seeing it work, turning to his professor with a smile. She smiled at him, patting his back.

"I'm proud of you. You did well."  
-

After the success of the attached limb, the entire hospital was in a better mood. They were kept there a long time, so much that Alice had called the university and asked for her class to be let go. Tadashi watched as Kairi showed off her new hand to her daughters and husband. It was a bit of a shock for the husband to see his wife with a metal limb, but he accepted her still with open arms. Doctors insisted to have them stay longer for drinks, but the two excused themselves. As they walked back up the steep steps to the university, they started a set of twenty questions.

"No way. You and your broke your legs at the same time?" She laughed. "Oh my god, how did you manage that?"

"Do you really want to waste a question on that?" He chuckled, walking along side here. She shrugged in return as he tapped his chin for a moment. "Oh, I got one. What happened to your arm?" Tadashi asked, insistent on an answer. "You asked me how I broke a limb, so I get to ask how you lost one."

"I told you, I fought a bear," she laughed as they reached the top. "No, you said it was a figure skating accident," He quickly replied, swooping in front of her and blocked her path. She stuck her tongue out at him, walking around him and to the bridge. He quickly followed after her, waiting for his reply.

"Okay, fine. I lost it in a lab accident," She finally said as they reached the school. Tadashi looked at her, nervous that he might've pushed too hard. She smiled at him, hands on her hips. "When I was working on a serum to turn me into a cat," She chortled, walking over to him. "Time for my question, ready?"

"Okay, shoot," He replied. He gave up for today, she clearly wasn't telling him.

"Is that your family over there?" She asked, pointing to something behind him. He turned around to be greeted by Aunt Cass and Hiro in her pick-up truck. He waved to them, signalling he'd be there in a minute.

"I'll be right back," He said, jogging over to the truck. "Hey, when did you guys get here?"

"Just a few minutes ago, thought we'd pick you up for dinner!" Aunt Cass said with a bright grin, peeking over his shoulder. "Oh! Who's your friend?"

"That's Alice Lore," He said, turning around and waving her over.

"Hello," She said as Alice stopped beside Tadashi. "Goodness, you're tall… Nice to meet you, I'm Cass Hamada. Are you done teaching for tonight?"

"I am. Your son is quite the robotics expert, it's almost sad that he's finished my class," She said, patting Tadashi's back. "I'd be very proud of him if I was you."

"I am proud of my nephew," Aunt Cass replied with a giggle, ruffling Tadashi's hair. "Would you like to come for dinner tonight?"

"… Sure, why not?" She responded, peering into the truck. "Oh, you must be Hiro." The teen was deeply engaged with a video game in front seat, managing a quick hello without breaking his concentration. "Just give me a moment to get my jacket and we can go." She turned on her heel and walked into the school building.

"There's not going to be enough room for all four of us in there, Aunt Cass," Tadashi quickly added. Aunt Cass looked back at in the truck, before noticing her mistake. "I'll drive us to the café." "On your bike? Sweetie, no. Put your bike in the back, Hiro can sit in your lap."

"Uh, no way!" Hiro piped in. "How about I go on his bike with him? I got my helmet," He asked nicely, holding up the beaten purple helmet. Cass shrugged and sighed as Hiro hopped out of the truck. "Just ride safely, okay?" She said, looking at Tadashi.

"Of course, Aunt Cass," Tadashi grinned, fist bumping his brother. "Hamada brothers always ride safe."

"I guess it's the girls club in the truck," Alice chimed in, startling the two. She had put on a leather jacket and now was sporting a large case the she placed in the back of the truck. Tadashi waved to the ladies before leading Hiro to the bike lot. Taking the keys out of his pocket, he got on the bike and started it as Hiro jumped on.

"Hey, Tadashi?" He asked as his brother kicked off, looping around the lot and drove down the long drive to the main road. "Can we make a quick stop?" Tadashi glanced behind him at Hiro and groaned. He had his Megabot in hand and a mischievous smile on. Turning his eyes back on the road, he sighed.

"Fine. Where's the place?"  
-

The bot fight was over quickly, but what took a long time was losing the people that Hiro had pissed off. Tadashi lectured him the whole ride and complained about how he shouldn't have agreed to do this detour while they were being chased by a gang in their sports car. It took exactly three loops around the city with detours and shortcuts to finally lose them and they arrived at the café right as Aunt Cass took dinner off of the oven.

"The secret is to cook the meat half way before you add it to the broth… Oh! You're finally home!" Cass was saying to Alice as the two boys collapsed on the stairs, worn out from the chase. "… What happened to you two?"

"We busted a tire," Hiro lied, making sure his bot and newly won cash was safely tucked into his pockets. "We went to an arcade to waste time and we lost track of it," Tadashi added on. "We're sorry, Aunt Cass."

"It's okay, boys. Both of you wash up for dinner, we're having udon!" She said, kissing the boys heads, earning a sound disgust from Hiro. "Come on, numbskull," Tadashi said, dragging his baby brother upstairs to their shared room. The two changed in to a pair of fresh shirts and washed their faces before coming back downstairs where Cass and Alice were deep in a talk about the cafe.

"If you like doughnuts, we should try our strawberry cream," Cass said as she finished serving the noodles.

"I think you're going to make me fat, Cass," Alice sighed dreamily. "I could eat you out of house and home…" Tadashi and Hiro sat down at the table, sitting across from the girls and started wolfing down the food.

"Believe me, with the way these two eat, they'll do that way before you," She laughed as she ate. "Oh right, you said you wanted to ask me about something."

"It's something I'd like to ask the two of you," Alice replied, glancing at her and Tadashi. "Tadashi did a great job working with me on our prosthetic limbs. Now I know summer for the students starts at the end of week, but I was wondering…"

"…Wondering what?" Tadashi asked, interest peaking.

"It was great to have an assistant, at least until the remaining students are finished. Now that I have completed limbs, I can't be at both the school and the hospital looking after patients. It would be nice to have some there in case they have any problems," Alice explained. "It would be paid, of course, but it's up to you."

"Oh! Well… He normally helps in the café during the summer," Cass said, thinking for a moment before looking at Tadashi. "It's your choice, sweetie."

Tadashi thought for a moment, looking over at his brother and aunt. A part of him wanted to say yes, but something in his gut told him no. He felt like he had to stay with them, like he might disappear suddenly. He looked up at his professor, taking it in. "Would it be an everyday sort of job?" He asked.

"More like once or twice a week," She smiled in reply. "There's just three more groups left to finish their work."

It would only be for a short amount of time, plus while he was there at the school, he could work on Baymax. The feeling in his stomach dulled, ruffling his kid brother's hair with much protest from him. "Sure, I'm your man," He said, going back to eating. Alice held up a thumb in reply, now stuffing her face with the udon noodles. The four ate and talked for most of the night, the boys getting up several times to get seconds and thirds. While the ladies cleaned up, the two boys began testing rocket shoes on Mochi, which worked a lot better than Cass expected it. However, Mochi didn't enjoy a bit of it. As Cass was bringing coffee out to them, Alice had switch her arm into for skeletal one, which Hiro had loads of fun with and scared the hell out of Cass.

However, the night had to come to an end. Cass had offered to drive Alice home, but she refused several times. "I'm just a tram ride away," She said as she reattached her arm, looking around for the skeletal one. "I think you're brother has a part of me," She commented to Tadashi as she got up. "Just bring it back before the summer is up."

"I'll make sure he doesn't break it until then," He replied as he escorted her to the door. As they slipped on their shoes and put on their jackets, Alice said her goodbyes to the family before stepping outside. "Thanks for coming tonight," He said as they walked to the tram stop.

"Thank you for having me," Alice smiled, brushing her hair out of her face. "I haven't had a dinner like that since I moved here."

"I'm sure Aunt Cass would want you to come back. … I'd like it too," He added on quick, glancing at her. Alice looked up at him, eyebrows raised. "Did you need me to come in tomorrow?"

"I don't think so, but give me your number. I'll text you when I need you to come," She stated, handing him her phone. He took the phone, adding his number into her contacts and handed the phone back to her. She took it and pulled him down to her level and took a selfie with him. "... Wow, this is pretty bad." He looked down at the phone. It was a terrible photo of them. He took the phone from her and positioned them before taking several photos. Honey Lemon had made him a selfie expert after all the photos she took with him and their friends.

"There, better," He said, feeling proud of himself. "What do you think, Alice?" He could see she was thrown off by him using her first name.

"It's perfect, Tadashi," She replied, sending a pleasant chill up his spine. The tram pulled up a few seconds later, Alice hopping on. They two waved goodbye as the tram rolled down the street. As he walked back to the house, he received a text. Pulling out his phone, he looked back at the tram stop before checking his texts.

Tadashi  
Come in on Thursday at 3pm.  
Also tell me what time the café opens I need my donut fix  
\- Alice

He chuckled as he typed out his reply. This summer was going to be fun.


End file.
